1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and techniques for allocating and scheduling resources. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for the allocation and scheduling of resources in time critical (e.g., military) applications.
While the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications, applications and embodiments within the scope thereof and additional fields in which the present invention would be of significant utility.
2. Description of the Related Art
The optimum allocation and scheduling of material may be difficult and challenging in large scale commercial, industrial and military applications. A conventional resource allocation technique utilizes a supercomputer and an exhaustive search to examine all possible combinations of resources to arrive at the optimum allocation schedule. The technique is computation intensive and the time required for the completion of a single execution plan may be on the order of an entire month. Hence, the conventional method of resource management utilizing supercomputers is of limited utility in time critical situations.
Another method of resource management involves the use of a command, control, communications and intelligence (C.sup.3 I) workstation. The C.sup.3 I workstation enables C.sup.3 I planners to perform resource allocation and scheduling without analysis or validation, in the vicinity of the battlefield. The remote C.sup.3 I workstation is a portable unit having computing power inferior to that of a conventional supercomputer. Unfortunately, the computer associated with the remote C.sup.3 I workstation typically does not have sufficient computing power to perform the necessary computer simulations required to complete an execution plan.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a system for allocating and scheduling resources in time critical situations.